“Over the last 12 months we’ve invested in incubating a set of ideas for using Blockchain (and other distributed ledger technologies) to create new types of digital identities, identities designed from the ground up to enhance personal privacy, security and control,” said Alex Simons, Director of Program Management, Microsoft Identity Division.

Microsoft said that the problem with the existing model is that it doesn’t give people control over their identity data as they must grant broad consent to countless apps and services for collection, use and retention beyond their control – leaving them exposed to data breaches.

Microsoft and its partners are working on developing “an open source, self-sovereign, blockchain-based identity system that allows people, products, apps and services to interoperate across blockchains, cloud providers and organizations.”